Forest zither

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Vogtland forest zither, Hamburg model, around 1935

The forest zither is a plucked instrument from the cistern family that appeared in Thuringia around 1900 . Despite its name, it is not a zither , but rather, like all cistern, belongs to the box-neck lute .

The Waldzither is a German type of cister, just like other countries have developed their own cister variants, e.g. B. in Portugal the Portuguese guitar , in England the English guitar and in Ireland the Irish bouzouki .

In the first third of the 20th century, the forest zither became widely used in Germany. Attempts were made to establish the forest zither as a German national instrument.

etymology

Until the end of the 18th century, the term “zither” only referred to instruments from the cistern family. In the 19th century a further development of the medieval Scheitholt gained importance in the Salzburg area, to which the name zither was transferred. This led to a name conflict between two fundamentally different types of instruments.

At the end of the 19th century, cisterns were only built and played in a few areas of Germany (e.g. Thuringia , Harz ). In order to avoid confusion, the instruments were given new names in the form of additions to their names such as “Halszither”, “Bergmannszither”, “Harzzither”, or “Thuringian Zither”. The name Waldzither probably originated as an abbreviation of " Thuringian Forest Zither".

Martin Luther is said to have played the cister, but this has not been historically proven. Based on this tradition, variations of the forest zither with names such as "Lutherzither" or "Wartburg lute" appeared at the beginning of the 20th century.

Another term used occasionally for the forest zither is "German lute" - a term that was also used for the guitar lute and is therefore ambiguous.

history

The cister is an instrument from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance that was almost forgotten in the 19th century. Through the youth movement and the youth music movement in the first third of the 20th century, the instrument was rediscovered and popularized again as the forest zither in German folk music . It also found its way into the Wandervogel movement from working-class circles .

With the rise of German national consciousness in the 1920s and 1930s, some manufacturers of the Waldzither tried to jump on this trend and establish the instrument as the German national instrument, as the following quote shows:

“It is imperative that the German also has a genuinely German accompanying instrument for his songs. Just as the Spaniard calls his guitar (wrongly called the lute), the Italian his mandolin, the English the banjo, the Russian the balalaika, etc., so the German should call his lute, the forest zither, which Dr. Martin Luther on the Wartburg in the Thuringian Forest (hence the name Waldzither) was cultivated to make it his national instrument. ” - Foreword to a pocket song book by CH Böhm (Hamburg, March 1919)

Nevertheless, the instrument was not promoted by the new rulers under German National Socialism . This was because it was associated with the Wandervogel, which was banned when the Nazis came to power. Waldzither players were arrested in some cases on suspicion of being autonomous migratory birds. Until the outbreak of the Second World War , the Waldzither was still very popular because many music lovers could not afford a more expensive instrument. Courses were offered in huge groups, but politics were strictly bypassed because the music schools were suspiciously controlled by the Nazis.

After the outbreak of war, acquiring a forest zither was difficult or even impossible. Those who owned one usually took them with them when they were fleeing or being driven out, because music was an important means of survival for people. The Waldzither did not really go under until the 1950s, when singing German folk songs was considered Nazi heritage and at the same time the guitar gained massive importance as an instrument. In addition, there was the division of Germany, which separated the production of the Waldzither ( Saxony ) and customers (Central and Northern Germany). In Hamburg no more forest zither was produced after the war, but in the Sauerland it was produced by the sole proprietor Friedrich. But this then also switched to the onset of the guitar boom.

In the 1970s, the forest zither came back to life with the German folk music revival. Groups like Liederjan played their new folk on old instruments. In the meantime there is again an increased interest in the instrument, in folk music, folk music, and since the 1990s also from the ranks of the music of the medieval scene . There are still some instrument makers who make forest zithers today.

Designs

Screw head mechanics

The forest zither consists of an oblong, mostly teardrop-shaped, flat body with ribs , a neck with a fingerboard and a head with the pegs on which the strings are stretched. The tailpiece is below the block that connects the two frame parts (similar to the mandolin ). The fingerboard is usually divided into 17 frets by transversely inserted metal rods.

In addition to the most common body shape, the teardrop shape, there is also the “coat of arms shape” (pear or bell-shaped) and the “lute shape”. With the forest zither, unlike the guitar or mandolin, for example, there has never been any real standardization. For this reason, forest zithers with slightly or more strongly deviating structural features were produced at all times and by every manufacturer.

The most common types of forest zither are:

  • the Thuringian forest zither
  • the Hamburg forest zither
  • the Vogtland forest zither

The "Thuringian forest zither" is traditionally equipped with tuning pegs inserted through the back .

The "Hamburger Waldzither" is a variant of the Hamburg mandolin manufacturer CH Böhm and other competing Hamburg instrument makers of the early 20th century. It has a screw head mechanism (also known as a fan mechanism or screw fan mechanism), which is a further development of the English guitar 's Preston's machine , and a flat body base.

The “Vogtland Forest Zither” is available in two models, the “Hamburg model” with screw head mechanism and the “Thuringian model” with tuning mechanism (like a guitar). The latter model is sometimes also called the “Thuringian Forest Zither”, but is a completely different design than the “Thuringian Forest Zither”. In contrast to the Hamburg forest zither, the Hamburg model of the Vogtland forest zither has a multi-ribbed, curved body base.

Stringing and tuning

Today's forest zither is, as is usual with cistern, tuned in an open mood . The strings are always made of metal, usually steel strings, and have two or more choirs. The lowest string is often designed as a single string.

The nine strings are tuned in the tenor zither, which is still used today, in ( C major ) (starting from the lowest string: c gg c'c 'e'e' g'g '). Especially in Thuringia, Hilmar Günther still builds the so-called bass zither, which is tuned a fourth lower in G major (G dd gg h'h 'd'd'). As a treble zither it is also common in G major, but then an octave higher. (g d'd 'g'g' h'h 'd "d") There are also 14-string forest zithers. These have five choirs: a double choir in the bass and four triple choirs, they are similar in size and construction to the tenor zithers (cc ggg c'c'c 'e'e'e' g'g'g ').

If the forest zither is used as a pure drone accompaniment instrument, the third can also be omitted and a tuning that only contains the root and fifth, e.g. B. c gg c'c 'c'c' g'g ', which results in a very full drone sound (corresponding to a power chord ).

Today's forest zither players who like to experiment sometimes use completely different tunings for the forest zither. Gregory Doc Rossi gave a detailed lecture on this topic at the 3rd Waldzither Symposium in Suhl with practical suggestions. A possible variant is the mood in the style of the South American Charango, which also has five choirs . In its most common tuning in A minor 7, the notes sound from the upper to the fifth and thinnest double strings g'g '- c "c" - e "e' - a'a '- e" e ". The pitch is not in ascending order, but crossed. Transferred to the forest zither, an ordinary set of strings can be drawn on an instrument with a length of approx. 50 cm if the thickest string (c) is used in the second choir. From the upper to the lower strings The tuning then reads: g - c'c - e'e - aa - e'e '. Thin, wound guitar strings can be used for the a and c' strings. This partially open tuning sounds deep and completely similar, atypically on board that of a bouzouki and is ideally suited for playing melodies. The chords can be learned quickly by guitarists because they are very similar to guitar chords. Today this tuning is already used in Bal Folk and the Wandervogel movement. Another, simpler option is tuning the forest zither -Strings similar to the strings of the Guitar - omitting the thickest (E) string: A - d - g - h - e '. If the A and D strings are octaved upwards, you get the authentic tuning of a baroque guitar (a - d - g - h - e). Michael Völkel , among others, works with the mood G - c - g - c '- g' (also a power chord in C) when he plays medieval music or folk. In the combination of drone , handles and individual tones, a complex accompaniment can be realized quite easily with this mood.

Style of play

The forest zither can be played sitting or standing. The strings are usually struck with a pick held between the index finger, middle finger and thumb.

The forest zither can be used as a pure melody instrument or as a rhythm instrument. You can also play the melody and rhythm at the same time. The basic chords are very easy to grasp, so that even beginners can get good results very quickly. In the C major tuning, playing in the keys of C major, G major and F major and the related minor keys is easiest. There are also doing Barre -Handles used. However, playing in other keys requires more practice.

You can also use a capo - for example on the second fret, to easily play a piece in D major .

Other possible playing techniques are finger-playing (without a pick) and the use of finger picks or bottlenecks .

Waldzither Symposium

Since 2003, a forest zither symposium has been held in Suhl (Thuringia) every two years , at which players, collectors, historians, instrument makers and interested parties meet and exchange ideas. The symposium has been organized by the association "Friends and Patrons of the Waldzither eV" since 2014 (www.waldzither-ev.de).

Web links

Commons : Waldzither  - collection of images, videos and audio files